Chapter 78: The strange creature
"Pink... eyes?"
She looked at him as if she was hearing things that she should not hear right now.
"It has pink eyes and a blue body?"
From the complex set of negative emotions she had right now, it was difficult to tell just what was more shocking: the skin color of the mole or the fact that it has pink eyes.
Perhaps it was both of the factors, and perhaps anything she was thinking right now wasn’t necessary in the first place.
But, if she was right and what she was thinking about was in fact the truth here, she did not want it to be something so unfathomable.
"Alright. I believe you." She took a deep breath to calm herself first.
She knew being hasty right now would not be a good thing. She needed to see things through right now.
And it was her that made him go through so many things to find a creature he could tame in the first place so, now that there was a being that he had found trustworthy, she could not waste this opportunity.
"Do you think you can form a bond with this one?" She looked at him with dead serious eyes. "Answer me honestly, Prism."
She was not simply asking him if he was ready to take this creature in as his third partner.
This wasn’t a simple decision, but more than that, this wasn’t a simple creature.
"..." Prism paused for a moment when he heard this question from her.
He looked at the small thing that he was holding so carefully right now.
The mole was playing with the fingers that made the golden stars.
She wanted to see those stars once again. She wanted to play with him more.
He could tell she had come here not for those stars but for the one that produced them. And she was going to stay even if those stars weren’t around.
"Little one?" He called out to the small creature and looked at her with a warm smile. "Do you want to come with me and see a big world, live a new life that may not be as leisurely as you know, and do some fun things?"
He was asking her what she wanted to choose: her previous life in the cradle surrounded by those amazing yet dangerous beasts, a world where she would be taken care of by the divine beings, or a life among humans, a life that may not be as good as what she had known.
"Miii~! Mii!"
Surely, however, this one knew the answer to those questions already.
"Mii~."
She wanted to come along with him.
He could tell she was saying she wanted to play with the golden stars a lot more, play with him and accompany him, but the core of those emotions were conveyed to him.
"I see. Alright then."
He smiled at the little one and nodded positively.
Then, he looked at his great grandmother and nodded with a determined smile.
"Yes."
At last, the one that he had been searching for... had found him.
"Alright then."
She still had a lot of complicated emotions so she did not want to cause trouble for anyone else when they were standing right before the great wall.
-Oooooooooooooooooong!
She activated one of the many bond marks present on the back of her neck, one that glowed in a mix of blue and green, and from the bond mark, an essence card with a mark of (SR-rank) on it slowly floated out.
"Let’s go."
-Zaaaaa...!
From the bond mark, the elder lady summoned a creature that resembled a pigeon.
The ’creature’ looked like a bird and had colourful stripes around its body that awfully resembled a tiger. It was another coincidence that they were seeing so many creatures with such marks lately, but whatever the case may be, the professor did not have to concern himself with it.
"Piii!"
The moment this creature appeared on her hand, it created a giant barrier around the two of them, cutting them off from the world outside.
"Hmm?" He was confused right now.
They did not need a powerful barrier like this when there was no need for it. All he needed to finish his taming process was a little room and things would be done. But, he did not seem to understand the heaviness of the situation.
"It’s just precaution. You don’t have to worry about it. Please, go on."
She smiled at him gently, giving him the reassurance that he didn’t even know he needed right now.
This wasn’t the same as when he tamed Felix. If anything, she did not want anything else to interfere with this process.
She wanted to be the one to pay as close attention to this process as she could. Furthermore, this barrier was not for them but for their surroundings that might very well be in a danger.
"Alright..." Sam was confused right now but maybe this was just her way to help him focus.
He did not really need it, but at the end of the day, he would need someone to know just what happens during the Synchronization taming process.
"Here we go then."
"Mii~!"
He placed the little creature down and kneeled before her.
Then, he called out his other two partners and introduced them to the new friend that they might see around from now on.
"Chirp?"
"Meow?"
The two could not see the creature like the elder lady either. It was strange but the little mole was becoming a bigger mystery to them with each passing moment.
"Would you like to share my vision then?"
"Chirp~."
He wanted them to see what he was seeing at the very least. So, when the two agreed, he shared his vision with them... and still, the result was the same.
{ "I don’t know, master. It’s strange. I can’t even sense them." }
Even as a mystique, Felix found it hard to understand what their master was talking about.
There was no creature in sight, there was no creature with a world that she could sense, and there was nothing that was visible to them through a shared sense.
It confused the tamer even more.
He looked at her, the happy little mole waiting for him.
"Just what are you, little one?"
"Mii? Mii~."
He questioned the little mole once again, but she just smiled at him, making the same soft sound that she had ever since she appeared before him.
’Am I making a mistake right now?’
He questioned himself. He was eternally anxious so there was no way he would go ahead with something without thinking it through.
Sadly... there was no going back from this point forth.